The government is still pondering whether to attend next month's ceremony to award this year's Nobel Peace Prize to a jailed Chinese dissident, an official said Thursday, amid Beijing's warning against supporting the honoree, whom it brands a "criminal."
South Korea and many other Asian nations remain undecided after missing the Nov. 15 deadline the Oslo-based Nobel Committee set for notice on whether a country's officials would attend the Dec. 10 event honoring dissident Liu Xiaobo. China's embassy in the Norwegian capital sent letters to diplomatic missions there asking officials not to attend.
"We're still reviewing whether to attend it. We haven't decided yet," a foreign ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
The diplomatic conundrum demonstrates China's influence in the region. China is South Korea's No. 1 trade partner and a key neighbor that hosts six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear programs.
Japan also missed the Nov. 15 deadline, but decided Wednesday to attend, officials said.
Liu, a 54-year-old writer and former professor who is currently serving 11 years in jail for subversion, was awarded the peace prize in October. He was jailed last December after authoring an appeal for political reform in one-party China. He was a student leader at the demonstrations at Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Beijing has strongly denounced the Nobel Committee, calling Liu a "criminal."